Every June it's the same thing — kids come home from school with all of the stuff that they've been hiding/storing/ignoring in the desks and lockers. Books, binders, assignments, art projects, supplies, gym strip, backpacks and hey, bet you totally forgot about that popsicle stick playground model your child made in January.
If you're a parent who drives your child to and from school, use this simple tip to help calm the chaos and clutter known as end of school. Get one banker's box or one plastic rough-tote storage box with a lid, for each of your kids. Something big enough to hold a large amount of your child's work, and put it in the back of your car three weeks before the last day of school. When the kids come tumbling out of the classroom laden down with "stuff," get them to put it into their own box, and leave the box in your car so that each school day the ritual can be repeated. On the weekends, sort through the box and decide what can be kept, tossed or recycled. Monday morning, the box goes back into the car.
By the time the last day of school actually arrives, chances are you will have already brought home and sorted out most of the collection your child has collected over the school year, and you can keep the rough-tote to use as a memory box for any school mementos that you'd like to hang on to for keepsakes.
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